Research Proposals: Project Overview & Rationale

RESEARCH PROPOSAL TIP

The Introduction and Project Overview and Rationale sections of your Research Proposal can be re-used to form the basis of the introduction and discussion sections of your final report. Yours might need to be expanded a bit or a lot, but at least recycling saves some time and effort.

 

Remember that the entire purpose of a Research Proposal is to propose a research project to someone who will be in charge of saying "yes, this will work" or "no, you'll need to reconsider."

While the Introduction to your upcoming research proposal must lay the foundation for the subject of the final report, the Project Overview and Rationale section is a more fully-developed dive into the subject itself. It is meant to prove to the reader that

  • the subject is a real problem or worthy subject,
  • it's important enough to spend time researching, and
  • it can be solved in one way or another or can be written about thoroughly.

As a result, the Project Overview and Rationale section should be the longest part of your Research Proposal.

In it, you will want to

Paragraph 1

  • Provide an introduction to the subject that will draw in the reader.
  • Tell a story about it, provide facts and figures.
  • This paragraph is designed to vividly describe the problem or subject for readers.

Paragraphs 2+

  • Spend some time -- 2, 3, or more paragraphs -- establishing that the problem is really a problem or that the subject is worthy of study. Do one or more of the following:
    • Provide statistics. Go local. Go national, too, if it helps.
    • Provide a really cool quotation or two from someone with whom you talk about the subject.
    • Do some preliminary research and include bits of it.
    • Include an image of the problem or subject (if you have one).
  • All of these things will tell the reader, "See? This really is a problem" or "See? This really is a subject worth writing about."

Conclusion

  • Your conclusion could consist of 1 or more paragraphs.
  • This is the "bring it home" section, where you talk about how your research will help provide solutions to the problem or teach non-expert readers about an unfamiliar subject.
  • Make sure your conclusion has, well, a conclusion -- a "wrap it up" paragraph where you say what you believe your research and solutions will be worth.

Sample Project Overview and Rationale for Recommendation Report

Walking around on campus at night can be scary to many people, but busy college schedules, evening classes, and the annual time change often leave students, faculty, and staff without a choice in the matter. With parking lots and garages situated far from most buildings, faculty and staff must not only walk across poorly-lit lots but enter usually-dark garages. Students often stay late to work on homework or study, serve their fellow Hokies, or participate in organizational meetings. Regardless of whether they live on or off campus, heading home means often navigating either the poorly lit areas of campus or the same parking lots and garages as faculty and staff. All of these scenarios expose Hokies to potential dangers.

Since 2019, non-sexual crime statistics at Virginia Tech have either remained stagnant or decreased, according to the 2021 Jeanne Clery Act Report [1]. Burglary reports increased from 9 to 10, while car thefts (2) remained the same. Aggravated assault reports actually decreased, from 8 to 2. This is not surprising, as campus was largely vacant during the COVID-19 pandemic.

What is surprising, however, is during the same time period, sexual crimes have increased on campus. According to the 21 Clery report, stalking cases increased from 4 to 6, sexual assaults from 2 to 19, and – worst of all – rape reports from 8 to 20. These statistics indicate an upward crime trend that, bearing in mind national statistics, could increase even more under cover of darkness.

National crime statistics verify that darker areas and darkness in general promote a higher rate of violent crimes. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), 63.2% of sexual assaults and 71.7% of motor vehicle thefts occur at night. They also concluded that about 7.6% of crimes happen in parking lots and garages [2]. The article “Violent Crimes Most Likely to Occur at Night” reports that while some crimes – like larceny/theft, drug crimes, and property crimes – increase during the day, the more violent or potentially-violent ones occur at night. Aggravated assault rates increase from 46% to 54%, or by 8%; robbery, from 44% to 56%, or 12%; and murder and negligent homicide from 35% to 65%, or 30%. Of greatest interest to Virginia Tech, rape and sexual assault rates rose from 41% to 59%, or 18%.

Adding lights to some of the darker areas of campus, such as the Duck Pond and parking garages, can give people more confidence as they walk to and from dining halls, classroom buildings, and parking garages. Locations such as the North End Parking Garage and the Perry Street Parking Deck require more lighting since these are common places for people to park. Pathways to the Veterinary College, Oak Lane, and the recreation fields would also benefit from more lighting since these are also common places for students to walk.

This project would greatly benefit everyone who goes to Virginia Tech because it will help make the university a safer place at night, and it will provide a sense of ease for people that have to stay on campus late to finish projects and other tasks.

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[1] Policy.vt.edu. (2022). Annual Jeanne Clery Act Report. [online] Available: https://police.vt.edu/crime-stats/clery.html.

[2] Bjs.gov. (2017). Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Survey. Available: https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=dcdetail&iid=245 Links to an external site.. [Accessed 29 Nov. 2017].

[3] "Violent Crimes Most Likely to Occur at Night." Security Magazine. 14 June 2019. [online] Available: https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/90384-murder-robbery-and-driving-while-impaired-happen-at-night

 

Sample Project Overview & Rationale for
Informational Report for Non-Expert Readers

Throughout my report, I’m going to delve into what the discovery of the Higgs Boson and the Higgs Field means. There are three main implications I want to cover:

  • The origin of mass and the standard model
  • Dark matter
  • The multiverse

Each section gets increasingly more theoretical. We know how the Higgs Boson confirms the origin of mass and unifies the standard model of physics. We can attribute those same laws to the potential properties of dark matter, assuming that dark matter interacts with the Higgs Field in the same way as matter. Finally, we can use evidence gathered by the experiment to posit vitality of the multiverse theory in the world of physics, that the specific/strange mass of the Higgs Boson may be an indicator of a multiverse and that the theory should be taken seriously.

As described in the introduction. The discovery of the Higgs Boson gives us insight into the origin of mass. The Higgs Boson is associated with the Higgs Field in the same way a photon is associated with an electromagnetic field. The Higgs Boson does a lot for us in the way of showing that the Higgs Field is there, which is really the most important part of the discovery. As particles such as quarks, leptons, or electrons move through the Higgs Field, they experience a kind of friction or resistance which gives them mass, like a swimmer moving through syrup and getting more and more wet. Combinations of those quarks and leptons go on to make up protons and neutrons and combine with electrons to form atoms.

The discovery also completes a section of the standard model of physics. The standard model makes two essential claims:

  1. Matter is composed of quarks and leptons
  2. The fundamental bosons such as photons and gluons provide the various forces needed to stabilize the nucleus of an atom, for example

Before 2012, every fundamental boson had been proven except for one—the heavily-theorized Higgs Boson, which was posited to give particles mass. Proving the existence of the Higgs Boson informs the standard model but does not complete it. Areas of active research in physics to complete the standard model include the quantum theory of gravity and dark matter.

In the report, I’m going to use what we know about the Higgs Boson to explore the incomplete areas of the standard model and any further outlandish indications such as the multiverse.

Being completely honest, the subject matter of this is not a pressing issue. It doesn’t involve life or death, but it does plant seeds of curiosity in a time where I feel it is lacking. I want to get people, especially young people, excited about this stuff again. Particle physics, though not being my field of study, is a quest to unlock the secrets of our universe. I think people would enjoy learning about where they came from and what they’re made of.